Evans won't seek seventh term as Rochester school board president

ll not seek another term as president of the Rochester school board. Evans served six terms at the board's helm and presided over several tumultuous periods, including the messy departure of former Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard.

The board will elect its leaders in January and with Evans’s announcement, the way is most likely cleared for board member Van White who has long been interested in the presidency. Evans and White had a brief disagreement over who would become president last year.

If White is chosen, he will supervise a superintendent he opposed hiring. But White says that he has forged a positive relationship with Vargas and that he has supported some of the superintendent's biggest endeavors.

Whomever board members elect as their leader for 2014 will also deal with a new mayor in Lovely Warren, as well as a district under close scrutiny from New York State Education Commissioner John King. And an increase in the number of charter schools will continue to siphon students away from the district.

Any higher ambitions the next board may harbor could be short-lived unless the district shows significant signs of improvement.